E-commerce as a Revenue Stream
for editorial web sites
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Your Ad Here: Visual Impact of E-commerce on Editorial sites |
Editorial sites must give careful consideration to how its users are directed to e-commerce within its pages.
E-commerce does not directly interfere with the organization of the
content on the MSNBC home page. There is a banner ad directly underneath
the summary of the top story that clicks through to the home page of
the vendor on which you can purchase items. You actually have to scroll
down to click onto the "Shop @MSNBC" tab on the navigation bar.
When you click onto the Britannica homepage, the "Shopping" tab is placed right beneath the "News" tab. A short banner ad appears in the upper right above the top navigation promoting the "Britannica Store," and there is a "Shop" as part of the top navigation. So Britannica seems more aggressive in directing its users to its e-commerce.
This site is a little different in that it is not primarily a news or commentary site, and doesn't provide product reviews or recommendations, but there is news, primarily from Reuters and the Washington Post. There are no references or links to shopping on its news pages.
Salon.com boasts T-shirts, mugs, mousepads and original artwork from
Salon.com in its "Salon Gear" shop. It also offers an e-commerce
gateway, providing Salon.com staff reviews and recommendations
on consumer goods, music, books, gifts, etc.
Oddly enough, the Salon Shop is not highly visible from the home page of the site. "Salon Gear," which is the Salon-branded items, is highly visible without scrolling in the right navigation bar, but the shop is nowhere to be found. Perhaps Salon.com does not generate much revenue from the Salon Shop; otherwise, the site would draw the user's attention to it right away.